Ava is an engineer who specializes in designing storage products for STÄDA, which is parallel universe IKEA. They sell mostly furniture with satirically agreeable names like "Dependable Drying Rack" and "Appealing Dining Table." The title of this book is also Ava's current project, and on the anniversary of her 10th year working for STÄDA, her boss steps down and she draws the attention of the young man hired in his place...
I was convinced that I knew where this book was going for the first half, then was persuaded completely that no, I was wrong... only to be proven right in the end. But I was so thoroughly thrown off by what I perceived as the plot subverting my expectations that when the story...unsubverted itself, I was kind of relieved, but not all that surprised or excited. I don't know if I would call the book predictable, but there were some red flags that I should've known wouldn't just be ignored, especially considering the book description..
What else...? For the most part the writing was straightforward and without fluff. I didn't find much particularly funny, but I thought the same about Elinor Oliphant, so it may just be my sense of humor. I thought it was incredibly effective at portraying grief, though. I even got a bit emotional during the flashbacks of Ava in the hospital. Also, the fact that Ava compartmentalizes that grief for years worked thematically well with her profession and I do love that kind of thing.
There was some corporate satire but not enough, in my opinion, and I think more could have been done with the box motif as well. There was also one particular plot convenience near the end that irritated me... I did like it, overall, though.
*I read this via NetGalley
I was convinced that I knew where this book was going for the first half, then was persuaded completely that no, I was wrong... only to be proven right in the end. But I was so thoroughly thrown off by what I perceived as the plot subverting my expectations that when the story...unsubverted itself, I was kind of relieved, but not all that surprised or excited. I don't know if I would call the book predictable, but there were some red flags that I should've known wouldn't just be ignored, especially considering the book description..
What else...? For the most part the writing was straightforward and without fluff. I didn't find much particularly funny, but I thought the same about Elinor Oliphant, so it may just be my sense of humor. I thought it was incredibly effective at portraying grief, though. I even got a bit emotional during the flashbacks of Ava in the hospital. Also, the fact that Ava compartmentalizes that grief for years worked thematically well with her profession and I do love that kind of thing.
There was some corporate satire but not enough, in my opinion, and I think more could have been done with the box motif as well. There was also one particular plot convenience near the end that irritated me... I did like it, overall, though.
*I read this via NetGalley